Moving from Oregon to Salem, VA - Advice anyone? (Roanoke: low crime, transfer)

[j1n]

http://blueridgemarathon.com/here's some good stuff for Roanoke... Events Calendar | Downtown Roanoke, VA | March 2011

and here's similar for Salem...
CITY OF SALEM - News & Events

As far as hiking goes, this is the right place. Some of the more popular stuff:
McAfee's Knob
Dragon's Tooth

Plus there are trails all over Mill Mountain, off the Blue Ridge Parkway, etc...and the Appalachian Trail runs right through this area.

A couple hours south and west of here is Grayson Highlands State Park... the most "Western" landscapes I've seen on the East Coast. (Think Montana foothills or something). And Grayson Highlands is home to herds of wild ponies which you can view close-up via just a short hike into the balds.

Also... yes, Salem's and Roanoke's downtowns are very walkable and family-friendly.
Roanoke's downtown is a little more concentrated... restaurants, interesting shops, good coffee, downtown market, etc. Plus, in the warm weather, there seems to be a festival or something going on nearly every weekend... marathons, Local Colors festival, Microfestivus, etc.

[Scott94]

Well, it's not much of a water park, but there is a small one with a couple of slides called Splash Valley in Roanoke County. It's a relatively new place. We went there once over the summer and it was pretty packed. Here's the website:
Splash Valley Water Park - Virginia Is For Lovers

And it's adjacent to the Green Valley Recreation Center:
Roanoke County, VA - Official Website - Green Ridge Recreation Center

From Salem, it would probably take 10-20 minutes to get there, depending on where in Salem you are. For bigger water parks, you would have to drive a pretty good distance away.

[garyzgal]

Fabulous links, thank you so much! This is very helpful. scott1094, we have small water parks like that where I'm at now so that is just what I was looking for. We tend to have a quite a few built in to our regular parks here since it's 100+ during the summer. Although we don't get the humidity like VA.

Again, thanks for the information, truly appriciated! VA here we come :-)

[Lemming95]

I moved to NOVA from Oregon (Albany) a decade ago. Being Northern VA there was really no culture shock, I was more casual but not to an extreme. The traffic of course was ...where are all these people coming from and going?? I still wonder that.
You are moving to a beautiful area and in the spring..enjoy.

[David from Salem]

First I would like to say without any disrespect to those who have posted about Salem, VA that it is a great little place to live. Now I was not “born & bread” in Salem, but have lived their now for over 25 years.

The secret to Salem as I am fond of saying is “get involved”, get involved in your PTA, coach little league sports, come to “Salem After Five” on Friday nights to meet folks. If you are involved with your children, you will be welcomed in Salem without any problem. I speak from experience. Again, was not born there, but it is home. I raised both of my boys in Salem. They have (again no disrespect to Roanoke City or Roanoke Catholic School (excellent school by the way, so is Northcross which is a private school, but you will find that our schools are the “Crown Jewelry” of our community. We have 4 elementary schools, one middle school & one high school. Check out the website. You will see the ratings for the schools. They are top notch academically & socially. We have forward progressive thinking people in positions with the schools. The teachers are great. They will return calls, respond to your e-mails, & we even have the parent portal now, where you can sign up & receive postings of grade of your child (not so big in Kindergarten but its nice as they get older).

Salem City Schools in Salem Virginia

This is the website that will link you to all the city government services.
City of Salem Virginia, Official Government Web Site

Parks & Rec (yes we do consider ourselves a very sports oriented, youth football, soccer, baseball, & the newest kid on the block is lacrosse. We have a wonderful feeder program now to the JV & SHS teams. I’ve helped coach now for a couple of years, but taking this one off. My stepson plays on the 15 & under team.

https://www.laxsalem.com/

CITY OF SALEM - Parks & Recreation Department

Most of all if you get involved, these people who work for Salem, will be neighbors, & become friends as time goes on. Now I do not work for Salem in any capacity, but don’t just take my word for it. E-mail some of the school administrators. See for yourself. It is good to check things out. Now not everything is perfect, we have our problems, as well, but getting involved is what its all about. I can attest to that by moving into Salem from the outside. Good services, good people.

David

[wierzbra]

Salem City Schools and Roanoke County Schools are actually pretty good. My husband is a Roanoke County graduate and insists that his education is every bit as good as my private school education. He's a software engineer now so I suppose he is right. I would avoid Roanoke City schools. There are many state parks within reasonable driving distance that offer fun amenities such as horseback riding and boating. I think you will really enjoy the hiking. I suggest you pick up a book on local hikes when you get there. The hiking ranges from extremely easy paved hikes at monuments to more challenging back country hikes on the Appalachian Trail. Each with their own benefits, rewards, and time requirements. During the warmer weather months, there are always seems to be a festival of some sorts from the Salem Fair to the Festival in the Park to the Strawberry Festival. It is a very family oriented area. There are a plethora of athletic leagues and activities for all abilities and skill levels. The large industry in the area is health care so many of the valley's residents are doctors and nurses. I think you will be surprised that the Roanoke Valley is not the typical south that you are expecting. Take a deep breath and relax. You will be OK. I even think you may enjoy living in the area. I know that growing up, I met the most amazing people. The adults around me would give and give. I am not talking about money. I am talking about their time and abilities. They would give so much that you would wonder how much could a person possibly give. They made such a difference in my life with theirs that when it came time for me to decide what I wanted to be, I chose a life of service. You will find people like that there. Get involved. "Sometimes you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right"

[garyzgal]

Well I am feeling better about the move thanks to everyone's input. I really appricicate all of it. I know it will be different & I'm trying to have a real positive outlook on it all. Change is hard & harder for some. I'm hoping to start a nice life there for my family & I do plan on getting invloved. It will take a lot of work on my part to get everything established. It's hard leaving my network here but I have high hopes that I will build a network just as strong out there. wierzbra I just laughed at your comment to just take a deep breath & relax & I have been trying SO hard to just that! David, thank you for all your positive input as well. I been looking at all the links that you sent scott & j1n, thanks a million! Here we go, off into the unknown.

[s97batess]

Hi,

Good luck with the move. I moved to Salem from Florida back in April of 2009 and have been entirely happy with everything so far. Found a nice house, great neighbors and a short drive to the job (less than 10 minutes). People are friendly here if you are friendly when meeting them..they will leave you alone if you want, or be the most helpful if you need that. It is really up to you how involved with the neighbors you want to be. As to children, there are numerous things to do here within an hour drive (for young kids a longer drive is hard in my opinion) and you will always be able to find something to do.

The weather is nice year round, but the winds will surprise you so get sturdy outdoor equipment (sheds should not be plastic unless tied down REAL well). There is a mall in Roanoke that seems to have most of what you could need to survive shopping wise (although I miss Dillard's personally). The population as a whole in Salem is a little older than state average, but with that comes a more laid back group of people for the most part in my experience. It will depend on where you are renting.

As others have said, get involved in the area and you will enjoy the time here enormously.

Good luck with the move, as that will most likely be the hardest part of this whole experience.

[garyzgal]

Thank you everyone for the kind words & insight. I'm planning on getting invloved so it sounds like that will help. I have my oldest starting Kindergarten so I may try to contact the schools from here before we venture out in mid-April. Another concern is finding good daycare for my youngest & as my family tells me here, people care about their children everywhere so I am trying to be optimistic about finding a good daycare. I'm sure it will all come together, will just take time. Fear of the unknown is common & boy am I feeling it now! Hard to leave my established network where I am now.

Thanks again all

[Daltonfamily]

Don't do it. Stay in Oregon. If you like good food, community events and nice people, you will be in trouble. We have been in the Roanoke/Lynchburg area for a year now and it is brutal. Our kids cannot wait to be out of here. STAY THERE.